1. Optimization of Organizational Structure
2. Organizations: group of people who work independently toward some purpose
3. Two fundamental processes (requirements)
   1. Division of labor into different tasks
      1. Subdivision of work into separate jobs assigned to different people
         1. Specialization (increases work efficiency)
            1. Match people with specific aptitudes or skills to the jobs
      2. each job includes a narrow subset of the tasks necessary to complete the product or service
         1. Supervisors
            1. Coordinate work (employees)
            2. Physical & mental skills
   2. Coordination of labor
      1. Accomplish common goals
      2. Coordinating mechanisms to ensure that everyone works in concrete
         1. Informal Communication
            1. Direct Communication
            2. Liaison Roles
            3. Integrator Roles
         2. Formal Hierarchy
            1. Direct Supervision
            2. Corporate Structure
         3. Satandarization
            1. Satandarized Skills
            2. Standarized processes
            3. Standarized output
         4. Sharing information about mutual tasks; forming common mental models to schincronize work activities.
         5. Assigning legitimate power to individuals, who the use this power to direct work processes and allocate resources
         6. Creating routine patterns of behavior or output
4. Main Elements
   1. Span of control
      1. The number of people directly reporting to the next level in the Hierarchy
         1. 20 employees p/supervisor 6 supervisors p/manager
         2. Best-performing manufacturing operations today rely on self directed teams
            1. Informal communication
            2. Specialized knowledge
      2. The best span of control (nature of the task)
         1. Rutine tasks
            1. less need for direction or advice from supervisors
         2. Novel/Complex tasks
            1. Require more supervisory decisions or coaching
         3. Tall and Flat structures
            1. The size of hierarchy layers depends on: the number of people employed
   2. Centralization & Decentralization
      1. The degree to which formal decision authority is held by a small group of people, typically the top of the hierarchy
   3. Mechanistic vs. organic structures
      1. Mechanistic Structure
         1. High formalization and centralization; many rules, procedures and defined tasks; Tall hierarchies and higher authorities; stable environments efficiency and routine behavior
      2. Liability of newness
         1. Start-up companies with organic structure have gross inefficiencies because their employees lack structure of past experience and don't have established roles
      3. Organic Structure
         1. Little formalization and decentralized; fluid tasks; Information located not only among executives; little concern of hierarchy; dynamic environments flexible to changes
   4. Formalization
      1. The degree to which organizations standarize behavior through rules, procedures, procedures, training, and related mechanisms
      2. Older companies tend to become more formalized because work activities become rutinized making them easier to document into standarized practices
   5. Most organizations start with centralized structures and the founder makes all decisions
      1. It grows and becomes more complex (all decisions can't rely on a single person)
      2. Or when the company is in time of crisis
      3. Large organizations decentralize
         1. The authority and the decisions are spread through the organization
   6. Problems
      1. Employees follow prescribed behaviors
      2. underline a learning orientation required for knowledge and creativity
      3. Lack of feelings of self-deterrmination, meaning, competence, and impact of their organizational role
      4. Rules became the focus of attention rather than the organizations's objectives of producing a product/service
5. Forms of departmentalization
   1. Specify how employees and activities are grouped
   2. Fundamental for coordinating
   3. Establishes: Command interdependencies, among employees and subunits
   4. Focuses people around ways of thinking
   5. Encourages coordination through informal communication
   6. Six different types
      1. Simple structure
         1. Beginner companies, just employees reporting to owners, depends on owner's direct supervision, difficult to operate as the company grows, highly flexible.
      2. Functional Structure
         1. Organizes employees around specific knowledge, permits greater specialization, easier direct supervision, limitations: focuses more in employees than in company products and high dysfunctional conflict
      3. Divisional Structure
         1. An organization structure that groups employees around geographic areas, clients or outputs.
         2. Creates minibusinesses that may operate as subsidiaries.
      4. Matrix Structure
         1. A type of departmentalization that overlays two organizational forms in order to benefit each part.
      5. Team-based Structure
         1. Flexible and more responsive increasment
         2. Traditional functional or divisionalised structures
      6. Network Structure
         1. Is an alliance between many companies or organizations to create a specific product or serving a client.
            1. Causes: Technological improvements (IBM,EDS) Core competences
            2. Virtual Corporations
         2. Pros and Cons
            1. Cons: - Organizations have less manufacturing, and marketing control. - Market forces (supply and demand)
            2. Pros: - Time to launch the product will be reduced. - Flexibility and resources
      7. Three types
         1. Geographic Structure
            1. Organizes employees around the distinct regions of the country or globe.
         2. Product Structure
            1. Organizes work around distinct outputs. company divided into product divisions
         3. Client Structure
            1. Employees are organized around specific customer groups.
         4. Divisionalized Structure
            1. Tends to duplicate: -Resources -Production equipment -engineering/techonolgy expertise.
            2. Can create silos of knowledge.
            3. Expertise is spread throughout the same unit business; reducing ably and motivation to share their knowledge.
            4. Depends on the company’s primary source of envorimental diversity.
      8. Pros and Cons
         1. Cons: Take more time in early stages , stress due to ambiguity of roles
         2. Pros - Reduced costs- no need of formal hierarchy - Improves communications and cooperation - Decision making: quicker and more informed
6. Contingencies
   1. A future event or circumstance that is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty
      1. External Environment
         1. Best structure for an organization depends on the external environment.
            1. Stakeholders
            2. Resources
            3. Competitors
      2. Organizational Strategy
         1. Larger organizations have a different structures from smaller organizations
            1. job specialization increases
            2. elaborate coordinating mechanisms
            3. administrative hierarchy
            4. greater formalization
            5. informal communication regained
            6. decentralized
      3. Technology
         1. Technology refers to the mechanisms or processes by which an organization turns out its products or services
            1. Variability
            2. number of exceptions to standard procedure that tend to occur
            3. Analyzability
            4. the predictability or difficulty of the required work
            5. * Low variability and high analyzability: routinuous and highly predictable. * High variety and low analyzability: unique situations and low repetition (research project teams) * High varierty and high analyzability: exceptions to routines and standard procedures (maintanence groups and engineering design teams) * Low variability and low analyzability: few exceptions but problems are difficult to resolve. (skilled trades people)
      4. Organization size
         1. Based on relation with customers
         2. Strategies→Structure
         3. Influences size and technologies used.
      5. Characteristics
         1. Dynamism
         2. Diversity
         3. Complexity
         4. Hostility
      6. Main structures
         1. Differentiation strategy
            1. Personalization
            2. Non-centralized
         2. Cost leadership strategy
            1. Standardized processes
            2. Job-specialization
7. The division of labor and the patterns of coordination, communication, work, flow, and formal power that direct organizational activities
   1. Power Relationships
   2. Organization's Cultue
8. Establish new communication patterns & align employee behavior with the corporate vision